A shockwave of heat and sound tumbled Sarah down the aisle between high stacks of coffin vaults and drowned out her scream of terror. She flew twenty feet, landed hard and tumbled several times before sliding to a painful stop face down on the cold floor.
Her ears rang from the concussion, and her eyes were still blinded by the after-image of the blast. Every inch of her body ached from the wild tumble, and she wondered if she'd broken any bones. The sharp stench of burned hair clung to her nostrils.
She lay still for a moment, savoring the coolness of the stainless-steel floor against her cheek. Then she remembered Mai Luan and forced herself to sit up despite her body's protest.
After blinking away the lights still dancing behind her eyelids, she banged the heel of one hand against her head to try to knock the ringing out of her ears. Back at what had been Mai Luan's glowing, rune-filled circle, Sarah was shocked to see the woman stagger to her feet amid the rubble of what had been shiny vault stacks. The stacks on either side had buckled, the bright steel surfaces blackened.
Sarah had expected to see nothing but charred remains of the slender Freaky Zoi, like a soldier who had jumped atop a live grenade in a movie. But somehow Mai Luan had managed to survive the blast, although her long, black hair was tumbled about her head, with chunks missing, and a few shortened ends still smoldering. She wore a grimace on her blackened face, and she hunched, as if she'd torn muscles in her back.
Just as Mai Luan managed to stand fully erect, Eirene dove through the drifting smoke that still covered the area in a thick haze, and tackled her back to the ground. The two rolled over each other, shrieking like cats, and grappling for each other's faces. Eirene's hands began to glow purple and, despite her revulsion for the face removing magic, Sarah grinned and advanced, looking forward to seeing Eirene take the woman apart.
Mai Luan's hands began to glow too.
The two women surged to their knees together, glowing hands locked around each other's faces and, for the first time, Eirene looked genuinely frightened.
Mai Luan grinned, "Didn't expect the Cui Dashi, did you?"
The purple fire ringing Mai Luan's hands spiked in intensity, and Eirene cried out in pain.
Sarah didn't know what Cui Dashi were, but she understood enough to know it would be bad if Mai Luan won the struggle. She rushed forward to try to help.
Mai Luan rose to her feet and easily lifted the struggling Eirene into the air. She looked stronger than she had just a moment before, as if she'd already shed the effects of the explosion.
How was it possible?
Then Tomas lunged through the smoke and plunged his knife to the hilt between Mai Luan's ribs.
Sarah skidded to a stop in shock at the brutal blow, and then stared in amazement. Instead of screaming and falling dead to the ground, Mai Luan only grunted in pain and dropped Eirene. As the other woman scrambled away on hands and knees, Mai Luan back-handed Tomas before he could twist the knife or withdraw it for another strike. The blow knocked him several feet back with blood spraying from his nose and lips.
With the dagger still stuck between her ribs, Mai Luan stalked after Eirene. "I think I'll just take your head off."
"I don't think so," Sarah snarled from behind her.
She fired the taser.
The little barbs struck Mai Luan at the base of the throat just as the slender woman turned. The look of surprise on her face as her body convulsed under the jolting electric current was priceless. Her eyes crossed, she mumbled something incoherent, and then collapsed to the ground where she lay twitching.
YOU ARE READING
Saving Face
FantasyThere's no place like home. For Sarah, home is the body she grew up in, and she's gone far too often. In a near future where the renting of human bodies is possible, Sarah is a top model. She spends most of her time shuffling between temporary bod...
